Stacks of already packed Styrofoam eatry packs
Despite several calls on Federal Government to prohibit single-use plastic in the past, which is in line with some of her ennobling laws supporting a ban on products like,, microbeads, carrier bags, plastic spoons, straws, and disposable cups, the FG has shown a lack of the will power to do so.
However, Lagos state has taken the bold step of banning the use of Styrofoam in the State hence defaulters will sure be prosecuted. The ban which magnanimously offered a three-week window before commencing full implementation and enforcement, was weekend gift to the good people of Lagos state last weekend from the Honourable Commissioner for environment and water resources, Tokumbo Wahab.
The reasons for the ban as contained in the Sunday, January 21, 2024, press release from the Ministry’s Public Affairs Director, Kunle Adeshina, is in response to the environmental threat posed by single-use plastics, particularly non-biodegradable Styrofoam, which according to the statement impacts negatively on the state’s drainage channels which are often clogged by the material due to its careless distribution and consumption.
Moreso, Styrofoam accounts for a greater portion of the litter which Lagos State Waste Management Authority deals with during its routine operation in addition to some health hazards directly and indirectly.
The statement further affirms that: it drew strength from some of the available FG laws like and regulations like:
-The National Environmental (Sanitation and Waste Control) Regulation 2009 which was established under NESREA Act that prohibited and specifically banned single-use plastic in the country but has not been enforced
-The 2017 State Environmental Management and Protection Law which states under section 56(I) (y) prevent, stop or discontinue any activity or omission, which is likely to cause harm or has caused harm to human health or the environment.”
According to the statement: Our state cannot be held hostage by the economic interests of a few wealthy business owners if to be compared with the millions of Lagosians suffering from the consequences of indiscriminate dumping of single-use plastics and other types of waste which the statement maintains result in climate change, flooding, and diseases like cholera as consequences saying ‘We must all make small sacrifices for our collective well-being’
Prior to the ban, the ministry and other stakeholders like the manufacturers association of Nigeria have been meeting over the matter, intimating them on the need to stop producing Styrofoam products.
At a consultative meeting of the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources with representatives of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, and the Restaurant and Food Services Proprietor Association of Nigeria, Thursday, the State through the Ministry maintains that there is no going back on the total ban of usage and distribution of single-use plastics in the state.
Further more, the Honourable Commissioner declared that enough damage had been done to the health of residents of the State as well as the environment, stressing that: three weeks is enough time for the products already in the state to be exhausted if indeed the stockiest are committed.
In a related development, the FG through the State Minister of Environment, Ishaq Salako, aligns with the step Lagos state had taken saying that; the ban on some plastic materials is inevitable as he urges Nigerians to be prepared for a holistic circular management of our waste.
He described the decision by Lagos State Government to ban Styrofoam and other single use plastics as “a strong signal to businesses and the general public that the menace of single use plastics needs to be comprehensively addressed, if Nigeria is to deliver on her environmental agenda of sustainability.
He disclosed that FG through Federal Ministry of Environment recently inaugurated “an interagency committee to continue the process of robust consultations across government, across businesses and with all stakeholders to birth a sustainable solution that is sensitive to the Nigeria context” while the ministry is examining policies and initiatives that will drive the production of alternatives to plastics.
Salako advised Nigerians saying; In the interim, Nigerians are advised to take personal deliberate environmental actions to reduce and reuse plastics and also explore the growing market of recycling for their plastic waste as the FG will soon engage in a robust awareness campaign and sensitization towards the inevitable ban of some plastic.
